The present invention relates to a data processing method, system and apparatus that processes a variety of demands from a plurality of service providers by using a single IC (integrated circuit) card.
In the past, in an IC card system, an IC card carried by an individual has been recorded with personal information and used for passing through subway and train turnstiles, controlling entry to and exiting from rooms, etc.
Similar kinds of card-shaped media, for example, pre-paid cards, service cards issued by various stores, and user cards issued by software manufacturers are also in use.
These cards, including the IC cards, are individually issued and supplied by the respective service providers (businesses) relating to the cards.
Note that by making it possible to give an IC card the capacity to enable it to sufficiently store information relating to several services in its built-in memory, several businesses could share use of a single IC card.
In this way, businesses that individually issued cards up until now could reduce the load of issuing the cards and could secure a large number of users, which are difficult for individual businesses to secure. On the users' side, a reduction in the number of cards that a user carries and manages, relieves the user of the trouble of carrying and managing a large number of cards.
When an IC card is shared by several businesses in this way, however, it becomes necessary to deal with a variety of requests. That is, some businesses might desire the convenience of an IC card, as if the card was issued by itself, even when sharing an IC card with other businesses. Also, specific businesses might not want to share an IC card. Furthermore, a reduction in the number of businesses that share a card may also be requested.
The present invention considers the issues above and provides a data processing method, system and apparatus for processing a variety of demands from a service provider when a plurality of businesses share a single IC card.